Space Pirates!
by Little Jackie Papercut
Summary: After Luther's death, our heroes prepare to return home... but complications arise, ensue, are overcome. Final chapter up. Rated T for Adray bashing. Yay, Adray bashing!
1. Fayt: The End

Introduction

Hey, this is the first fanfic I've written, well, ever, so don't expect too much out of me. I hope I can at least get your attention, because if not I've failed as a writer and a person and must commit honorable seppuku in order to… no, never mind, that's not funny.

Anyway, I guess I should explain a bit about the story itself. It picks up from the end of the final battle of Star Ocean 3, and is entirely in first-person point of view. You'll see a different person's point of view each chapter. Fayt will be the first, and then it'll cycle through all the others. I haven't decided whose POV to use for the final chapter. If there's someone you want it to be, review and tell me.

Anyway, that said: I do not own anything related to Star Ocean, not even a keychain. Squaresoft owns all of it. The only thing I own is the parts of the plot of this story that I wrote myself. See? I'm not claiming anything! Don't hurt meeeeee!

Now, on with the stupid story-type thing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't believe it! They're nothing but data! Why am I being deleted… destroyed?!"

As Luther began to radiate an intense light, I drew back, signaling the others to do the same. It was all over. The man who had been set on deleting everything was dying. With a final flash of light, he was gone…

But we were too late.

As Luther vanished, so did everything else. Darkness engulfed us as the universe was reduced to nothing.

Funny, somehow that wasn't what I was expecting.

I don't know how long I drifted through that nothingness, waiting to become part of it myself. I guess no time really passed at all, since time as we knew it no longer existed. Then, suddenly, something changed. The void gave way to tall grass, and when I opened my eyes I realized where I was. It couldn't be… but it was.

Elicoor.

I was lying facedown outside the city of Peterny. I stood up and, looking around, I saw that everyone else was there too, somehow. Most of them seemed as surprised as I was, though Peppita seemed almost oblivious to everything around her, humming something to herself and looking pretty relaxed, and Albel just wore his usual scowl. Adray was stretching, a perfectly natural reaction after his near-death experience, while Cliff sat there rubbing his head as if he had the worst hangover of his life. Blair was nowhere to be found, and I wondered what had happened, if she had died along with her brother.

And then there was Sophia. She made eye contact and smiled at me, but I could tell she was caught off-guard just like everyone else. I returned the smile, then spoke up. "What happened?" was all I could think to say. Nobody seemed inclined to attempt to answer at first, except Albel, who grumbled, "How the hell should I know? Idiot." Maria seemed deep in thought, and eventually came to a conclusion. "Perhaps we still exist because we believe we exist," she said. "And our perception of the universe has kept it safe for us." I pondered this for a minute myself, and decided we weren't likely to find a better explanation. Roger, on the other hand, wasn't satisfied with this. "Aw, that's way too confusing!" he whined. This elicited some laughter from the rest of the group. Even Albel chuckled a little.

Finally, Sophia spoke. "Now that it's over," she said, "does that mean we can finally go home?" I nodded in agreement. "Yes, Sophia, we can go home." Maria put a call through to the Diplo, saying that we would be ready to leave in three hours. That would be enough time to tie up all the loose ends on this planet.

A little later, I was standing in the throne room of Castle Airyglyph. Cliff, Albel, and I had decided to give the news on the fate of the universe to the king, while Nel, Maria, and Adray met with the Queen of Aquaria. That left Mirage and Sophia to stay with the younger members of our party in Peterny, since Roger had elected not to return to Surferio until it was time for the rest of us to leave. I wondered if just the two of them would be enough. While Albel was going on about the entire story in incredibly graphic detail, I leaned against the wall, imagining the massive structural damage any nearby building would have sustained by now if there was any sugar in reach. I shuddered at the thought of Roger's axe blasting through a support beam.

"…so, there you have it. We won, and the world is safe again, or at least as safe as it ever was," concluded Albel. The king nodded. "This is a great day for Airyglyph, and for all of Elicoor. Your deeds will never be forgotten so long as the kingdom stands." After a few more formalities, we took our leave. Albel departed for the Kirlsa training facility, with only a grunt as a farewell, and Cliff and I returned to Peterny. I couldn't help but vocalize my fears. Constantly. Much to Cliff's dismay. As we got closer I held my breath in anticipation, certain the town would be on fire when we arrived, but it seemed my fears were unfounded. "See, what did I tell you," said Cliff. "Now can you shut up about it? I nodded, not entirely relieved.

At the inn, where we had agreed to meet, Maria was already waiting for us, Nel and Adray having stayed at Castle Aquaria. She apparently sensed my anxiety. "They're in that room," she said simply, pointing to a room down the hall. "From what Mirage told me, they haven't been out since shortly after we left." Cliff began discussing something or other with Maria as I hurried to check on them. Inside the room was a half-conscious Peppita lying in a bed, with Roger and Sophia sitting beside her. "What happened here?" I asked quietly, with a glance at the girl in the bed. Sophia quickly stood and began to explain. "Well, you see, Peppita somehow got hold of some sweets…"

"From your bag," Roger interrupted, with a tone halfway between amusement and annoyance.

Sophia's face went slightly red. "Yeah… well, she got a bit of a sugar rush, and, well, she had a bad fall…" Sophia said, with an extremely apologetic look on her face. Anyone could tell she blamed herself for the whole thing. Peppita sat up in the bed and shook her head. "I'm okay, really!" she assured us. "Well, that's a load off my mind," I said. "I thought someone would be seriously injured." Peppita smiled. "Nope! I'm just fine!"

When I returned to the entrance, I found that Mirage had joined Cliff and Maria. They all seemed a little worried. I approached cautiously. "Hey, guys… is something wrong?" I asked. They looked at one another, then looked at me with troubled expressions. Although I'm not a mind reader, I was pretty sure that wasn't a good sign. "Uh… guys?" Maria was the first to speak. "We got word from Marietta, there's a suspicious ship tailing them. They're going to try and shake them, but I've got a bad feeling about the whole thing." I nodded in understanding, and sat down to wait.

A few minutes later, we got a communication from the Diplo. "We've managed to lose them," announced Marietta. "We're going to have to make this quick, because I don't want to stick around any longer than I have to." Maria nodded in agreement, and soon we were boarding the ship. Roger, alone, waved at us from the ground as we disappeared from sight and took off.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know this is probably a little weak, but I'm still trying to get into the swing of things. Please read and review, I know I need work but I don't know what. And keep in mind, this is just an introduction...


	2. Albel: Who Knew?

Squaresoft owns all the maggots you're about to read about. All the Elicoorians, too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This town never appealed to me, really.

Peterny always struck me as the kind of town where the streets are a little too clean and the maggots are a little too happy. It made my stomach churn. How could anyone live in a place like this? But like it or not, I had business to see to.

Now where was he again?

The smith was nowhere to be found. I was growing steadily more agitated with the search. Surely he had to be here somewhere. It was as if he knew I was coming and went into hiding. Angrily, I began to plan out all the ways I would exact revenge on Gusto for making me look for him. That is, of course, if I could find him, which seemed increasingly unlikely. I was just about to give up when someone behind me spoke.

"Well, what brings you here? I didn't think we'd ever see your sorry ass around these parts again." I stiffened, not expecting to hear this particular voice. "Who do you think you're talking to, fool?" I spat, turning to see Nel Zelpher standing there. She ignored this, looking rather bored. "What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked.

"I don't have much choice in the matter," I responded, getting a bit more agitated. "The king seems to think I need to take a break from training. Apparently, I think about killing too much." I shrugged.

"Well, of course you do," she interjected.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, glaring angrily.

"How do you resolve misunderstandings?"

"Violence."

"And how do you deal with stress?"

"Killing."

"And what's your idea of a good time?"

"Slaughter."

"And what's your favorite book?"

"Bunny Paradise."

She blinked. "Hold on, what was that last one?"

"Is there a problem, maggot?" I said through clenched teeth.

"Never mind, forget I asked. Anyway, as you were saying?"

I resumed where I left off. "Well, I was going to keep training anyway, you know, need to keep fresh, keep my killing arm strong, but he ordered the elite soldiers not to allow me near the Kirlsa Training Facility, Mount Barr, or any other place where I can kill things. So, in lieu of killing, I'm going to find Gusto and get him to work on my sword." Here I paused, recalling exactly why I had been so angry to begin with. "But he's nowhere to be found. When I get my hands on him…"

I trailed off here as I noticed that she didn't seem to have the same look of fear people normally have when I'm talking to them. In fact, she looked amused by the situation. She was shaking, but not from fear. Was she… she was laughing at me! I glared for a minute before snapping, "What's so funny, woman?"

At this, she merely laughed harder and pointed at something behind me. I turned to see what she was pointing at… and groaned. Gusto was standing only a few feet away.

"Bah! There you are, finally!" I called out, approaching him. He looked me over, then looked at my sword. "So, you want me to help you out, huh? Let me see…" I handed him the Crimson Scourge, and he studied it long and hard. Finally, he handed it back to me.

"I'm a little busy right now, but bring it by the workshop later and I'll see what I can do," he said. At least it was something, anyway. "How much later?" I inquired. He scratched his head. "Oh, I don't know… about six hours, I guess." That wasn't at all what I'd hoped to hear. Six hours in this place would surely drive me insane. He apparently didn't notice the look on my face, or else he didn't care, and he walked off to take care of whatever work he had to do.

"So, what's the verdict?" asked Nel, still grinning a little too widely.

Glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, I responded with a shrug, "Well, I've got to find some way to pass six hours. I guess I'll go find some fools to torture. That'll keep me occupied."

Before I could go, she stopped me. "Wait. Before you get to the violence, maybe you should try something relaxing,"

I stared at her, incredulous. "But violence _is_ relaxing," I pointed out. Apparently she just didn't get it yet.

She shook her head. "What I mean to say is, you should try something… restful," she amended.

Restful? I had never heard such nonsense. On the other hand, it occurred to me that the king might not be happy to hear that I was committing atrocities when I was supposed to be taking it easy. "Restful it is, then," I said after some consideration. "Did you have anything in mind?"

The question apparently confused her, as I hoped it would. It was so much fun watching people struggle to keep their thoughts straight. She recovered too soon for my liking, though, and said, "I'm here on business, but if you'll wait in the bar over in the eastern part of town, I'll be finished in an hour and then I'll see if I can come up with something."

Now it was my turn to be surprised by her response. I had expected some sort of well-crafted insult, possibly referring to me as a brute or a psychopath. Instead, she had asked… what _had_ she asked? This was the most unlikely scenario I could have imagined. In my shock, I could only think to nod. She returned the gesture, and with the words "See you in an hour!" she went about her business. I stared after her for a moment. "Am I losing my touch?" I said to myself.

Two hours later, Nel walked into the bar. Or, more accurately, two hours later she was _in_ the bar. She was probably there on time, but I hadn't noticed her for a while because I was struggling between the urge to slit the throat of a particularly irksome bar patron and the desire not to have a bounty on my head. Eventually, she cleared her throat, and I looked up. "Well, so you're finally here," I said. "Just in time, I could really use a distraction right about now."

An instant later, I was behind her, arms draped over her shoulders with my claw on her cheek. I scratched her lightly, deep enough to draw blood but not deep enough to leave a scar. With annoyance, I noticed that she wasn't having the desired reaction, but rather she looked almost amused by my actions. "What is your problem, woman?" I muttered, frustrated. Suddenly I found that our positions were reversed. She was behind me, both of her daggers drawn, one at my throat and the other pressed against my back, before I could even react.

This was becoming a good deal less satisfying than I had hoped.

She leaned forward and said, "That was a very rude thing to do, especially since I'm only here for your sake." Then, further adding to my frustration, she released me before I had a chance to go for another reversal. "Well, if you're ready, then let's go," she said, turning to leave.

Fuming, I followed her, hoping she'd lead me somewhere I could slip out of sight long enough to stab her in the back. I had no such luck, however. She proceeded to the north, and stopped at a large building with a marble face.

I looked at the building doubtfully, studying the carved entrance. "What is this place?" I asked cautiously. By now I was beginning to think I would regret accepting her offer.

She gave me an odd look before she responded. "It's a museum. They display historical artifacts and artworks to the public." I nodded acknowledgement, annoyed by her tone, and we entered.

Once we were inside, it didn't take me long at all to find something of interest. "Relics of the Ancient Wars?" I actually began to laugh. This was shaping up to be more interesting than I had expected. Nel, however, was only half as fascinated with the exhibit as I was. She observed the masterfully crafted weapons and armor with some interest, and appeared to enjoy the great war chariot, but she seemed not to share my enthusiasm.

She had had enough of the display soon enough, and moved on to examine some tapestries; after a few minutes more, having seen all there was to see of the ancient wars, I joined her.

Now I was thoroughly bored, and made no effort to hide it. Still, I couldn't deny that it was better than wandering the streets for the remaining hours. Nel was so focused on the artworks, she didn't notice the expression on my face.

Soon I had had quite enough of the meaningless images. It wasn't time to meet Gusto yet, but I didn't care to stay much longer. I was just about to leave when something caught my eye. It was a statue of two soldiers dying. One soldier, full of arrows, had his sword through the other's chest, and yet neither seemed to realize what the other had done; the expressions on their faces were peaceful, calm, even amiable. It was one of the most foreign things I had ever seen, and yet for some reason it fascinated me. The statue's name, I saw, was "The Two Brothers of the Torastic Religious War". Not the best name, but it was a striking image nonetheless. Just behind the statue was a painting depicting two women, identified as "The Brothers' Wives". Both women seemed in grief, and would, I reflected, remain that way for all eternity, fated to mourn in silence until the end of time.

Studying the two works, I didn't even notice when Nel approached me. It took a minute to register that she was looking at them as well. "Really gives you something to think about, doesn't it?" she said quietly. I looked back at her briefly, then nodded. "Yeah… I suppose it does." We continued to look through every display in the museum.

Finally it was time to go see Gusto. The smith looked up at me as I entered the workshop. "Right on time," he said. "Let me see it." I removed the Crimson Scourge from its sheath and handed it to him. He went to work right away, pausing only to state, "I'll have it ready in one hour."

An hour. Well, I had been waiting all day, one more hour was fine by me. Behind me, I heard someone's stomach growl. Whirling around in surprise, I realized two things. First, I realized that a now slightly embarrassed Nel Zelpher had followed me into the workshop. And second, I realized that neither of us had eaten anything all day. I waited a moment in silence, then sighed. "I don't suppose there's a place to eat here, is there?" She laughed a little at the question. "This is the biggest city in Aquaria. Of course there are places to eat. Just… follow me, I'll show you."

So, once again I followed her, this time to a small diner in the eastern part of town. I couldn't help my surprise when I gave some thought to the fact that she had been both more amiable and more helpful than I had would have anticipated all day. Inside, I ordered the dish with the most red meat in it (which turned out to be avocado) and immediately turned my attention to Nel. "What's wrong with you today, anyway?" I asked. "You seem really different, somehow."

She hesitated a moment before responding. "Our countries aren't at war anymore, you know. There's no reason for hostility now," she said quietly.

At first I snorted at this answer, but she did have a point. Really, I shouldn't have expected any hostility in the first place. I didn't speak again until we had finished eating. I had too much to think about.

"Well, I guess I should be getting back to the workshop," I said at last. She stood. "I'll accompany you, I'm heading that way myself." I had hoped she wouldn't be. After today, I wanted to be alone and think, but I agreed. We returned to the workshop, and Gusto handed me my sword, which seemed to have been improved greatly. I paid him, and we left.

In the workshop's entrance I hung back. I couldn't help watching her for a second, trying to figure her out. Everything about it was just so confusing. Not even thinking about it, I started to follow her… and just then I spotted a small figure heading toward us at a great speed from the gate. I squinted. "Is that…"

"Hey, guys! We need some help here!" Roger shouted, panicking. Nel looked down, and bent over to talk to him. "We?" she asked. The menodix seemed quite unable to stay still, forcing Nel to make quite some effort to keep up with him. "Yeah, we!" he shouted. It was just then that I realized what he was talking about, as a second form limped toward us from the same direction. I tapped Nel on the shoulder and gestured toward the new figure. "This isn't going anywhere good," I muttered.

And I was completely right.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aha! A plot twist! Take that, M. Night Shyamalon! Anyway, I'm very sorry if this mostly-fluff chapter was poorly written; I _needed_ to get an ending like this one, but to do that with no filler content would have resulted in one of the shortest chapters ever written. Ten paragraphs tops. It would have been more disappointing than this is. So, yeah, review please!


	3. Maria: Star Ocean In Space

Squaresoft owns Star Ocean. I'm just a two-bit hack who writes about it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I stared at the oncoming ship, I knew we were in trouble.

Our engines and shields were down, and now an unidentified ship was approaching. We had received no communications, no reason for the attack at all. I turned to Marietta. "Get an escape pod ready," I commanded. We hadn't been destroyed yet, and that could only mean one thing. They were going to board us. There might be enough time for one person to escape, though. Next I faced Fayt. "You get to that pod. Someone needs to find backup." He shook his head. "I don't know how the pods on this ship work. You should be the one to go," he replied. And he was right. Once I thought about it I realized that I was probably the only one who could control the pods. Even the Federation didn't have escape pods this complex, yet. It was probably inaccurate to even call them escape pods. They were designed to allow you not only to escape, but to return as well, assuming there was something to return to.

After a moment's hesitation I agreed. I rushed for the pod, but it was too late. Someone grabbed both my arms, pinning them to my back before I could react.

I was brought back to the bridge with everyone else. The hulking goon who had grabbed me nodded at another guy who was holding Fayt, and they prepared to return to their own ship. At that moment, though, there was a noise that sounded like a large, muscular goon being thrown against a metal wall. When I looked around, I saw that precisely that had just happened. Cliff had thrown the one holding him to the side. Seconds later, he had knocked my captor to the ground. It took me a moment to register my freedom, and then I was off and running. I glanced over my shoulder to see three of them wrestling Cliff to the ground; Peppita, still woozy, was leaning against the wall, apparently having been forgotten.

I reached the pod and jettisoned, and before I knew it I saw that planet below me again. Having entered the atmosphere a little before I was prepared to, I crossed my fingers and hoped for a safe landing.

Once on the surface, I emerged from the pod, and surveyed the area. There was nothing but sand in every direction. I knew where I must be, and I couldn't have imagined a much worse landing place. Not wasting any time I set off through the blistering heat of the Mosel Dunes. Fortunately, the pod was still operable, having been cushioned by sand. I only had to hope I could find it again.

I was almost overcome by the heat when finally an oasis came into view. Immediately I picked up my pace, and soon I was completely submerged in precious water. I stayed under for a minute, enjoying the feeling, then I hauled myself out. I sat by the water, drinking as much as I could, knowing it would have to last.

I took my time readying myself, preparing to set out once again through the desert. However, soon my preparations were forgotten as two figures approached at an alarming rate. Startled, I backed away and drew my blaster, prepared for the possibility that they were hostile. A minute later, though, it was apparent that not only were they not hostile, they didn't even know I was there, and if they did it could only help my situation.

"You… think you're… a real man?" called one voice. "You'll never… beat me…"

"Ha!" said another. "I've already shown you… that I'm the… real man! And I'll just… keep winning… no matter… how many contests… you come up with!"

I waited until they were close, then stepped forward, firing into the air. "Hey! Help me!" I called out. The figure that was closer slowed his pace a little, apparently having noticed me, but the other just kept running. "Ha! I knew you were… going to quit…" he called back. Apparently ignoring this, Roger S. Huxley approached, a curious look on his face.

"Maria?" he asked cautiously. "What are you doing here? I thought you all left…"

I cut him off. "It's a long story. Right now, I need you to show me the way back to Surferio." He nodded, understanding, and turned back the way he came. "Follow me, then!" he said, and off we went.

The passage back to Surferio was just ahead; I could see it clearly now. Before, we could reach it, though, I felt a shift in the sand underneath my feet, followed by steadily increasing tremors. I stopped in my tracks, and Roger managed to leap back and out of the way just as a great form erupted from below the spot where he was about to be.

Sand worm.

The creature lurched forward, missing me by inches. I fired several shots into it, but couldn't seem to do any damage. It began to burrow under the sand again, and I motioned to Roger. "Go on, I'll catch up!" I shouted, aiming at the ground and waiting for the beast to surface again. He hesitated a moment, but when the tremors started again he panicked and ran for it.

There was a long moment of waiting before it reemerged. I realized just too late that it was coming up right behind me, and as I turned to face it, I felt a sharp pain and was swept off the ground, my right leg caught in the creature's gaping maw. The realization shocked me; I had made one mistake, and now I was about to lose my leg or my life. There was only one chance. As quickly as I could, I adjusted my position to aim my blaster down the hideous throat, and fired a barrage of shots. My reward was a scream of pain, as my leg was wrenched free with a horrible crack and I was thrown from the creature's mouth, followed by a quantity of worm vomit. After a seemingly indefinite fall I landed facedown in the sand. The pain was incredible. As I blacked out, I saw the worm hit the ground, crying out in pain…

Then it hit me. Water, that is. In the face. Someone was splashing my face with water. I opened my eyes and sat straight up. A look around told me that I was now in Surferio, in a bed in the Huxley house. A very short man with a raccoon tail like Roger's was grinning in my direction. "You gave us a scare there," Aznor Huxley said, very cheerfully. "Roger brought you back here, yelling something about a sand worm." Now his attention seemed to be on my leg. "I'm afraid you won't be able to walk for a little while with your leg like that. No, don't try to get up, you'll just hurt yourself worse." I groaned and reclined against the wall. I couldn't wait around. I had come for a reason, and it couldn't be put off for one second.

"Will you be alright here by yourself?" I nodded, vacantly. "Well, then, I'd better be off now. Important business to attend to, I'll be back before you know it," he said, and walked out the door. As soon as he was out, I placed my hand on the wall and pushed myself to as good a standing position as I could manage. The pain was incredible. I winced and fell back onto the bed.

A few minutes later, Roger entered the house. He approached the bed and sat down, a concerned look on his face. I looked up at him, and spoke up. "I told you to run. You could have easily escaped on your own," I said, still processing what had happened. He looked indignant for a moment, until I added, "Thanks."

After a few seconds, he answered with a smile. "What did you expect? A real man never runs away! And besides, I didn't really do much. You nearly killed it by yourself, I just finished the job and got you out of there." Then his expression turned to one of an intense focus that was completely uncharacteristic for the little Menodix. "Plus, I still have to find out why you came back. If you're here then that must mean something's wrong with… Fayt and the others." I nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, there's a problem. I came back to get help, but I can't do anything in this condition," I said bluntly. "If you'll help me out, I'll explain everything.

He quickly agreed. "Alright, I'll need a pair of crutches," I said. "Can you…" here I trailed off, as I remembered that this planet's technology was still well over a thousand years behind Earth's. Of course they wouldn't have crutches. "I need you to go get me some wood. Can you do that?" He nodded and ran off.

While I waited, I settled myself back onto the bed, staring at the injured leg. Fortunately, it seemed Aznor, despite his wandering mind, knew enough of medicine to have begun treating it properly. I would still need more modern medical attention, but that would have to wait.

Eventually, Roger returned with a few branches. I looked them over, and decided they would be better than nothing. "These will do. Now, could you bring me a sharp knife?" I asked, and watched as he retrieved it. Once I had all the materials, I set to work, and soon I had fashioned a pair of makeshift crutches. I used them to heave myself up, and found they were capable of supporting my weight. I nodded, satisfied. "Okay, this should do it," I said.

Roger looked more nervous by the second. I knew that he was desperate to know what was going on, but I also knew that the knowledge wouldn't help his state of mind.

It took me a few minutes to decide what I should do. With a sigh, I finally said, "Alright, now I guess it's time I told you what's going on."

As I explained the situation, his eyes widened in shock. He seemed to be losing his grip, which is exactly what I had been worried about. "Look, please calm down. We won't get anything accomplished if you panic," I told him. He nodded, pulling himself together, but he still looked very frightened. "Well… what are we gonna do now?" he asked. I thought about it for a minute, and said, "First we need to track down Nel and Albel. With their help, we'll get back to the ship and free everyone else."

Roger blinked. "Wait, Nel and Albel? What about Adray?"

We stood there for a moment, and then we both collapsed in violent laughter. "I'm sorry, I don't even know what I was thinking!" he shouted through his hysteria.

We were just about to leave when Aznor returned. He stared for a moment at my crutches, then said, "You're not leaving, are you?"

Roger started to reply. "Yeah, we've gotta find…" Before he could explain, Aznor interrupted. "I can't allow it. You're in no condition to go anywhere, miss… uh… whatever your name is." Scowling, I pushed him aside with one crutch and hobbled past him and out the door. Roger followed behind me, looking ready to panic again.

"You sure you can make it?" he asked, taking note of my slow and unsteady pace. I nodded grimly, determined not to stop no matter what. Just then, my crutch caught on something. I hit the ground, wincing, and picked myself back up. It took me a minute to get back to my feet. This didn't do much to reassure Roger, who looked more concerned than ever. "Maybe I should just go on and bring them back," he said.

"No," I replied, "I've got to go. This is my duty, and I will see it through." I pressed on resolutely, and proceeded in the direction of Peterny.

It was very slow going. The crutches were hastily fashioned, and as such were not very conducive to walking. I had to rest every few minutes, and when we resumed moving it was at a snail's pace.

Finally, we stood just outside of Peterny, and I paused to rest once more, on the brink of collapse. Roger was urging me on, but my body refused to move. "Just… give me a minute…" I said. "I'll be up in no time."

He didn't like it, but he agreed. Once I had had ample time to recover, I stood shakily, and went on.

Now our luck changed. No sooner had we passed the gates of Peterny than two figures approached. One was a woman, and the other I recognized as Nel Zelpher.

The two didn't seem to notice us right away. As they came closer I realized that the person behind Nel was in fact Albel Nox. I couldn't quite figure out what he was doing so far from Airyglyph, but it was fortunate at any rate. Roger rushed forth to meet them, while I struggled to maintain my halting gait.

"We need some help here!" shouted Roger. This seemed to confuse them, until I caught up. "I'll explain everything… but let's get inside, I'm going to need a place to sit," I told them.

Ten minutes later seated around the table in the inn, I had filled them in on every detail, from the unidentified ship to the dying scream of the sand worm. "Now I need to get back… and I need help," I concluded.

Albel looked almost flattered. "So your first thought was of the legendary swordsman Albel Nox," he said. "Makes perfect sense." Nel groaned at this remark. "That's the kind of thing I would have expected Adray to say," she said, rolling her eyes. He glared at her and… the only way I can really describe it is to say that he snarled. Like an angry dog. Or, in fact, like Albel Nox.

"I need all three of you," I said, trying to keep them focused on helping me rather than on hurting each other. "So I hope you can get ready in a hurry, because we're leaving… immediately."

All three nodded in understanding. The time for action had come. They rose to their feet and left the inn.

They left the inn?

"Hey, wait! You forgot me!" I yelled after them, struggling to stand again.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, I made you all wait, and I apologize, but it couldn't be helped. You see, I was originally going to do something completely different this chapter, but I decided it will have to wait until the end. It just wasn't flowing. When it comes, you'll like it, I swear. Anyway, please do review, because that's the only way I can possibly know what you think. Until next time, farewell!


	4. Peppita: Tired and Scared

Squaresoft owns Star Ocean. I'm just a two-bit hack who writes about it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do you fear death?"

The harsh, grating voice of the enemy captain made me wince. My head was still spinning, and I needed to lie down again. My vision was getting fuzzy. I was still recovering from my fall back on Elicoor, and when the other guys had boarded the ship and I struggled against them, they had hit me again, even harder.

"Now that you are in the hands of Captain Fargone, your lives mean nothing. You are less than nothing. You will do as you are ordered," he said.

"And what if we don't feel like it?" responded Cliff. I think it was Cliff, anyway. The captain chuckled. "You'll feel like it. The only other option is death."

Then, laughing madly, he gestured to his crew, who grabbed us roughly and led us away. We were put in three cells. I looked at my cellmates, but couldn't make out any of their faces. One of them was tall and blonde, must have been either Mirage or Cliff, another was smaller had blue hair, either Fayt or Maria, and I couldn't see the third at all, but when he spoke it was with a lisp. "I hope the Captain made it safely." The response was nervous. The voice was a whisper, and through the fog in my head I couldn't tell who had spoken, except that the voice sounded male. "If she didn't we're all done for."

Once that statement had sunk in, all three fell silent. I just slumped silently against the wall, unable to contribute anything. For about ten minutes we could hear a loud banging noise from somewhere, but it eventually died down. It was replaced by angry voices, and several of the bad guys ran past our cell. Then silence. My eyes slid closed.

I was awakened almost instantly by a rough pair of hands. "You're coming with us for an inspection," the owner of the hands commanded.

The hands shoved me down a long corridor, and into a white room. I was told to sit on a table while two voices discussed something. I tried to listen, but I kind of faded in and out.

"So, what do you think?"

"She looks like... the only way to... sample."

"Then do it." After that, I heard footsteps. Someone walked over to me and stuck a needle in my arm, then left the room.

I looked at what I thought was the guy who had stayed in the room. "What are you inspecting?" I asked in a hushed tone.

He didn't answer right away. Instead, he just came closer and looked at me for a minute. "I'm not saying just yet. I don't think there's any need to wait, though. It's obvious who you are."

This wasn't the answer I was hoping for, and I groaned as my head suddenly felt like it was splitting apart. Looking up, I saw that he was closer than before. I moved back a bit, but he grabbed me by the shoulders. "Either way, it doesn't matter," he said, pinning me down. My struggling was useless; he was a lot bigger than me, and I couldn't get him off. He began to pull at my clothing, and I fought with all my might to get away.

"Stop struggling!" he growled, punching me in the head. While I was dazed, he tore off my top, followed by my pants. I was now in my underwear, trapped under him on the table. "No... you can't..." I cried out, starting to fight back again.

"I can," he said, and hit me in the head again as the door behind him opened. As I began to slip into unconsciousness once more, I felt him being pulled off me...

When I woke up, I was back in the cell, with the others staring down at me. I still couldn't make out their faces, probably because that guy kept whacking me on the head. "Wh... what happened?" I asked groggily.

"We don't really know," said the guy with the lisp. "Apparently there was some kind of argument, the pirate who took you away got out of control and another one brought you back unconscious, apologizing about your condition."

"Who'd'a thought, huh?" said another male voice. "A pirate who's half-decent. Well, he might not be helping us, but at least he's the one doing the least to hurt us."

There was a silence as the other two turned to glare at the speaker. He was right, though he didn't really know it.

"They stuck a needle in me," I said, not wanting to talk about what had come after that. "They said something about a sample..."

The other were staring at me now. They seemed to be shocked by this, though they shouldn't have been. "A sample? You mean like a blood sample?"

"I guess so," I said, nodding. "I dunno what they wanted with it, though."

More silence, as they thought about this. Finally the lisp guy said, "You should rest. After all that's happened, you really need to sleep."

I nodded again and, noticing there were no beds, curled up in a corner. It took me a while, but I finally managed to drift off to sleep.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This time I'm not apologizing for the wait. Nobody reviewed, so I took my time. It's that simple. If you read any of this, please, please review. It's the polite thing to do.

I also don't apologize for the shortness of this chapter. I've got reasons for keeping it short. Among them, the chapter has a purpose that's not to make things happen, I had some tech problems and had to redo most of it, and after not getting reviews for so long I don't feel like writing a long chapter.

I do, however, apologize for writing what I perceive as a bad chapter. I wanted to do it from Peppita's point of view, but I believe I failed in many ways. I might go back and fix it later, but that's not at the top of my list of priorities. New chapters and new stories are more important. And, of course, reviews.


	5. Nel: To The Sky

Squaresoft owns Star Ocean. I'm just a two-bit hack who writes about it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Only Maria knew where we were going, and she marched ahead with a powerful determination. Despite her injured leg, the rest of us were struggling to keep up. "Hey, wait for me!" Roger called out, moving as fast as he could on his short legs. But we didn't slow down. We couldn't.

Finally Maria turned to face us, indicating that we had reached our destination. Behind her, I could see a large metallic object, undoubtedly the pod she had returned in. "Is everyone ready?" she asked.

I nodded. "I'm ready for anything," I told her, checking my equipment one more time. Albel seemed not to have heard her, his only answer being a grunt, and Roger, who was several feet behind us, was too busy trying to catch his breath to answer. Wasting no time, Maria turned and opened the pod, and we all piled inside.

Or at least, that's what would have happened, if we hadn't been interrupted. Because just as Maria entered the pod, a sand worm erupted from the sand between us. "Ah, not another one!" cried Roger. It seemed to notice this, and went straight for him. This must have been from the same pack as the one that had attacked them previously. Do sand worms travel in packs? Is "pack" even the right word? Or is it a herd, or even a school? Or perhaps it's something abstract, like a murder? All these thoughts were on my mind as I snatched Roger up and tossed him out of the way, then got under the worm and began slashing at its soft underside. It cried out and returned to the underground as my blades sank into its flesh. Roger was still picking himself up when the ground began to shake violently. There was a tense moment, and then, all around us, six more sand worms appeared.

"Bah, number don't matter! I'll cut you all down, you... worms..." Albel looked confused momentarily, as he was not used to his enemies being literal worms. He didn't have time to get accustomed to it, however, as three of the angry worms converged on him. He managed to escape, and leapt astride one of them, plunging his blade into its back. The worm didn't even seem to notice as Albel held tight to the hilt and began to claw away.

This was all I had time to see. I quickly found myself facing down two of the beasts at once. The first lunged for me, which I easily dodged. I sent a few fireballs at it before turning to deal with the other. This time I waited for it to get close, then began slashing wildly around where I estimated its face to be. This proved effective, and it backed off a little. I used this opportunity to get a few good strikes in at the stomach. It toppled over backward...

And at that moment I was blindsided by the other. I had no time to react, and the force of the blow threw me back against the worm I had just felled. I stood quickly, preparing to take down the creature that had attacked me. But the next attack never came. The worm reeled back in surprise as it took a series of strikes from that familiar yellow whip. The tables were turned immediately, and we made short work of it. I glanced over at the worm Roger had been fighting, and shuddered. It looked as though it had been blown up from the inside. Knowing Roger, that was probably exactly what had happened.

"That's enough time wasted," Albel said, casually joining us. He had apparently defeated all three of the worms attacking him, but he had also clearly suffered more damage than either Roger or myself. I looked at his wounds, but didn't say anything. Roger looked as though he might comment, but didn't.

We joined Maria in the pod, and were soon speeding away from the planet I knew as my home.

"We should arrive at the Diplo in half an hour at most," Maria told us. "From there we'll board the enemy ship, and free the others." I looked around. These machines still captivated me, despite my experiences with similar technology. Unfortunately, Roger was also interested, to the point of having to touch everything. Maria seemed to be getting increasingly worried by his actions, and that was in turn worrying me.

"For the last time, Roger, please, cut it out!" she yelled, turning to stop him. And just as she had reached him, a strange, hollow thud caught all our attention.

Maria froze for a moment, her eyes widening as she realized what was going on. "Damn," she muttered, then quickly returned to the controls. "What's going on?" I asked as she began to frantically maneuver. She didn't answer, her full attention focused on what she was doing. I watched the screen in front of her and soon saw the source of her distress. A series of sizeable rocks were now flying straight at us. This, at last, distracted Roger from his curiosity, and he sat staring, barely containing his panic.

Suddenly, I was knocked off my feet as a large rock struck our tiny vessel. Roger yelped, and Albel stumbled a bit, but kept his balance using his sword. The pod spun out of control temporarily, and I watched as still more rocks pelted us. Finally Maria managed to correct our course and get us out of the dangerous area. "I think we're going to be okay," she told us, as we returned to our pursuit.

After a very long flight, which was made even longer when Roger resumed his incessant touching, Maria reduced our speed. "It was in this area," she said, scanning for any sign of the ship. It should have been hard to miss, but she couldn't seem to find it. Once again the sense of unease returned as I sat watching.

It took ten minutes for Maria to reach a conclusion. "It's gone," she said.

She sounded thoroughly defeated, clearly believing there was no chance of ever locating the ship. Looking over the area, I thought for a minute. "Which way did it come from?"

Maria seemed to be confused by this question, as though she didn't expect it to help at all. "That way," she said, pointing to an area to the left, and as she did so I was already measuring. "Is there any chance they could have landed on one of the small planets nearby?" I asked. She shook her head. "No, they would have tried to put as much distance between themselves and this place as possible,"

"Then they went that way," I told her, pointing at the space to the right of a distant planet. When she looked bewildered, I explained. "Any other direction would have required them to double back, which I don't believe would have happened... to enter the gravitational field of one of the planets visible from this point, which they would have avoided... or to go right through the same swarm of rocks that hit us earlier." Maria simply stared, incredulous, for a moment, then nodded. "I see... in that case, we'll catch them easily!" she said, adjusting our trajectory. Our speed increased, to the point where I was shocked that a small vessel like this could attain such velocity.

And so we streaked toward a target we couldn't see, hoping beyond hope that we weren't too late.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I'm progressing the story to the best of my ability. I will write more for the one person who has reviewed my most author's note than for the four hundred people who have viewed my story in total. Please remember to keep reviewing!

There's something I wanted to note about this chapter. You'll notice that once again it's a short chapter. Due in part ot the nature of this fic, in part to time constraints, and in part to my writing style in general, I'm thinking it might be better if I stick to short chapters from now on. But, I don't want to do that if people won't like it. So, if you have an opinion on the chapter length, then say so, and that opinion will be heard.


	6. Sophia: The Breakout

Squaresoft owns Star Ocean. I'm just a two-bit hack who writes about it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Marietta, that's not helping," Mirage commented, as the smaller girl whimpered helplessly in the corner. She seemed to be the only one who dared to believe we could survive. I didn't blame Marietta, though. I was scared, too, and I hadn't been on the receiving end of the pirates' blows. It was even sort of Mirage's fault. After all, she had been the one who had made a commotion, to which the pirates had been quick to react. She had tried to break the bars, and with Marietta helping she almost succeeded. The pirates had struck both of them repeatedly, and though Mirage didn't seem to be very hurt, Marietta was clearly affected.

"You don't have to be so mean to her," I scolded. "It's not her fault she's not as tough as you."

Mirage sighed. "I know, I know... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," she said sincerely. "I'm just frustrated because the bars didn't break."

No sooner had she said this than the bars broke.

We all sat in stunned silence for a second, staring at the opening. "So, should we go now?" Mirage suggested. Marietta appeared hesitant, but she nodded and stood. "Better than nothing," Steeg agreed. "We'll probably be captured, but then what will they do? Put us in a cell?"

With that, it was decided. Mirage stepped out first, looking around, then motioned for the rest of us to follow. We headed right, toward the cell where we'd last seen the others, at just the wrong time. Ahead of us a pirate rounded the corner. "Hey! What are you doing out of your cell?" he yelled, and rushed us.

He didn't reach us, though. Mirage met him halfway, one hand on his throat. His eyes widened in shock as she lifted him off the ground and threw him aside. As he crumpled to the ground, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device, a metal rectangle with a button on it. Just before losing consciousness, he pressed the button.

And nothing happened.

Marietta froze for a moment, looking like she was about to panic, but then she relaxed. Mirage just looked puzzled, as though the purpose of that button was one of the greatest mysteries of all time, but as for me, I only felt increasingly worried as I waited for any effect.

About two minutes later, we heard a noise coming from somewhere down the corridor. Mirage hesitated, then turned to the rest of us. "Run," she said, just before rushing off at top speed.

And then I realized what the button did.

I was never the fastest of the group, and keeping up now was no easy task. Somehow I managed, though. Being chased by twenty or thirty pirates is good motivation.

Ahead the corridor split into two. "Split up!" Mirage called. Marietta and Steeg went left, and I followed Mirage to the right. "Why don't we fight them?" I asked, glancing back. Mirage shook her head. "I can't handle ten of them at once, and if you cast a spell we'll all die," she explained. She was right, I quickly realized. Anything powerful enough to take out a group this big would almost certainly destroy the ship with us inside. Before I could make another suggestion, a door nearby opened, and a pair of arms caught us and pulled us through. As the door slid shut, I heard the sound of twenty feet thundering past.

"You saved us," I said, relieved, turning to look at our rescuer. He seemed to be one of the pirates, but he smiled broadly, like he was greeting a pair of old friends. "What, did you want to keep running?" he asked. "Come on, I'll help you get back to your own ship. We're still docked to it, since the only capable pilots we have are currently flying this ship." As soon as the words were out, he turned and hurried off.

Mirage and I looked at one another, then shrugged. Better to follow him than risk running into more of his crewmates. We slipped down one corridor after another, keeping just out of sight. Soon the corridor branched left and right. We were about to head left when we heard something coming from that direction. Another group of pirates appeared, heading toward us, but before they noticed us we managed to duck into a doorway and avoid them.

"That was close," Mirage commented, and the pirate nodded. "We're getting close, though," he said. "Better stay here, I'm going to go make sure we've got a clear path."

I wasn't listening to them. Another sound had caught my attention, from the room next to our current position. Moving closer, I was able to make out three voices.

The first was saying, "...finished the test yet?"

"No, not yet. It'll be another hour or so," responded the second.

"The test doesn't really matter anyway," the third voice interrupted. "You can see it, just look at her face. There's no denying it."

"It's still to early to say that. Let's just be patient and see."

"Okay, but suppose it's true. What do we do about it?"

"Well, we can't let the captain know who he has. He'd kill her for sure. Instead, we'll wait until..."

"Sophia? Are you alright?" Mirage's voice cut in quietly. I was listening so intently that I hadn't noticed our guide's return. I nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry," I said hastily. "I got a little distracted." They both looked at me for a moment, then the pirate shrugged and moved on down the corridor, motioning for us to follow.

"It's just ahead," he said, indicating a pair of pirates standing next to a door. "That should lead you to your ship." And that was when we heard footsteps behind us.

"And who might you be?" said a voice, as I turned to see a large pirate aiming some sort of weapon at us.

"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten me already," Mirage responded, cracking her knuckles. A second later, she rushed the enemy, and he, startled, took a step back and fired. Mirage winced as the blast connected with her leg, but shook it off, delivering a mighty blow that flattened him in one punch.

Now limping slightly, Mirage turned and approached me, as to my horror the pirate managed to raise his weapon once more. "Mirage! Get out of the way!" I called, rushing to stop the attack. Ultimately, I succeeded only in getting myself shot in the arm. Mirage reacted instantly, pulling the attacker to his feet and striking him again and again until his face resembled something that had just been pulled ten miles along a gravel road. "Mirage, it's okay, he's not moving anymore," I said.

Finally dropping the man, Mirage turned back to our guide. "Now, there's still one little matter to deal with. You're one of them, so why are you helping us?"

He shifted uncomfortably, and I got the feeling he didn't want to answer. "Well, you see," he began, "we think that your friend might actually be..."

And then he exploded. He must have really not wanted to answer the question.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More story! And we're getting closer and closer to the thrilling conclusion! What could possibly happen from here? Well, I await your reviews, and you can await another chapter. Soon, I hope.


	7. Roger: The Breakin

Square-Enix owns Star Ocean. I'm just a two-bit hack who writes about it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few more hours of flying, Maria suddenly stood, as much as she could with her leg. "There!" she called, pointing.

And there it was. The ship we had been looking for.

The Diplo and the much larger pirate ship were moving slowly. We were able to board easily; the pod slid perfectly into place. That was where the easy part ended. As soon as the doors slid open, a pirate charged in, fists flying. The attack failed, as Maria had already been aiming at the door, and the pirate dropped to the floor. We slipped into the ship, careful not to be noticed. Now Maria gestured to the upper level. "We'll be able to reach their ship easily," she told us. "The ships are still docked together." Peering around a corner, she motioned for us to proceed. She followed, a bit more slowly, and we were on the stairs up.

"Hey, you!" a voice called behind us. I turned to see another pirate stepping over his fallen comrade; footsteps from the top of the stairs told me that he had alerted others, as well.

Easy. Sure.

Without hesitating, I rushed straight for the pirates on the lower level. They moved to defend, but too slowly. My axe had already made contact. I fought them back, then smirked at the sound of an explosion behind me. The pirates from above had run right into my mines without looking. "That's what ya get," I said confidently. "Ya can't beat a real man that easily!"

The enemies seemed more angry than intimidated, but now they were keeping their distance, staying just out of range of my axe. Well, that was what I carried other weapons for, after all. The whip caught them completely off-guard, and first one, then the other was repelled.

After struggling for a minute, the two I was dealing with got bold. They rushed me again and started stabbing wildly. Of course, this was no more dangerous than anything else they had done so far. I didn't even have to try to dodge. With a few quick swings, I knocked them both down, and leapt on them, hacking away.

"Pathetic," Albel declared. I turned to respond.

"Yeah, I know, what do they think we..." at this point I trailed off, noticing the ground. Really, what I noticed was that I couldn't _see_ the ground. We were now standing on a carpet of criminal corpses. Albel kicked a few of them for good measure.

"Why even bother leaving guards this weak?" he continued, stepping back onto the stairs.

"Simple," Maria explained. "They weren't placed here to prevent outside invasion. They're just supposed to be a last line of defense. By the time a captive escaped and made it onto this ship, they should be too tired to keep fighting. I suspect there are only a handful of strong fighters in the pirates' crew, and to attempt to occupy both ships would have spread them too thin."

The others were nodding their understanding, but I didn't really care. The pirates' strategy really didn't matter, we were here to save our friends. All that mattered was that we were here and they were there, and we had to get there so we could bring them here.

A little more meaningless strategy and we were off again. We started up the stairs once more, only slowing down briefly as a few more pirates emerged from hiding. We left their bodies behind and hurried along a corridor on the upper level. After a few minutes of hacking through minions, and a few more minutes of sneaking around, we stopped in front of a big door. Maria signalled that this was the entrance to the pirates' ship. We readied ourselves, then burst through. The two standing guard didn't know what hit 'em. First one dropped, then the other. As soon as they were dispatched, a sound caught our attention. Nearby, Sophia and Mirage were confronting a pirate. Both looked hurt; Mirage was limping and Sophia clutched a wounded arm. Acting on pure instinct, I readied my axe and streaked through the air toward the pirate. I think "exploded" is a good word for what happened to him. There wasn't much of him left intact. Retrieving my axe from his remains, I looked up at Sophia, who seemed absolutely shocked by the rescue. "Are you two alright?" I asked. Sophia just sputtered incomprehensibly for a minute, then sat down, leaning back against the wall.

"Hey, we match," Mirage commented, glancing from Maria's leg to her own. "Well, now that you're here I guess we can finish things."

Maria nodded, then thought for a minute. "We've only got one option," she said. "Mirage, you come with me back to the Diplo. Nel, Albel, you two have to go cause as much chaos as you can on this ship. Sophia..." now she hesitated. "I hate to send you in your condition, but we don't have anyone else, so while Nel and Albel create a distraction, do you think you could get to the cell where they're holding the others?"

Sophia nodded. "Okay, I can do that much."

"Good. I need you to take Roger and find them. Tell Cliff we're using 'that weapon'."

Mirage was apparently not happy with this idea. "Captain, are you sure?" she said, surprised. At least, I think that's the tone of voice I heard. With Mirage it's hard to tell. And her expressionless face didn't help things. "If we use it and miss..."

"I won't miss," insisted Maria. "We don't have any other options, and we need to do this quickly." Mirage seemed to understand, and immediately everyone went about their assigned roles.

Sophia dashed down corridor after corridor, and I followed as quickly as I could. Now and then we would stop and wait for hollow metallic footsteps to fade, and then we would be off again.

"It was in this area..." Sophia said to herself, looking around. I glanced around a corner and spotted a group of pirates up ahead. Quickly I readied myself, but stayed out of sight. Now wasn't the time to fight, if it could be helped.

It turned out, though, that it couldn't be helped. The pirates were approaching, and as they rounded the bend I caught them off-guard, taking out three with my initial swing. The rest were about to retaliate, but were stopped by a surge of electricity. Sophia winced, as she almost dropped the staff held in her damaged arm. I tried to approach her but she waved me off. "We're almost there, keep moving," she said, proceeding.

Sure enough, we arrived at the cell we were looking for almost immediately. Inside were Fayt, Cliff, Peppita and Lieber. Peppita was unconscious, and Lieber was hovering over her in a motherly manner, which is weird for a guy, even a guy like Lieber.

"Sophia?" Fayt gripped the bars, his face inches from Sophia's, looking really relieved, because of course he was. "I heard a commotion a while back and I was afraid something had happened to you."

"I'm fine, Fayt," Sophia lied, holding her arm behind her back. "I'm here to get you out, and to tell you Maria's going to use 'that weapon'."

"What? That's impossible," Cliff interrupted. "Maria would never decide to do that unless there was absolutely no other choice."

"Then I guess there's no other choice," Sophia said with a shrug. "Anyway, it's time to get you out of there."

"Good luck," Cliff said. "I haven't been able to do a thing to these bars. Maybe Mirage could, but I sure can't."

"Oh, I think we can manage," Sophia said, looking down at me. "Hey, Roger, are you hungry?" she asked as she reached into her bag.

"What, are you crazy?" I demanded. "We're in the middle of a rescue here! Why would you..."

Before I could finish, she had shoved several chocolates into my mouth.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know, it's been entirely too long. I've just been busy lately. I'll try and make the next chapter faster. In case it takes a long time again this time, though, you can always pass the time by reiewing.


	8. Cliff: The Breakdown

Square-Enix owns Star Ocean. I'm just a two-bit hack who writes about it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To say that I was uncomfortable with Sophia's actions would be an understatement. When she reached into that bag of hers, I wanted to grab it and throw it far away, only the bars made that kinda difficult. Funny how these things work, isn't it?

So we could only watch while she force-fed the kid a mouthful of supersweet chocolate. Now, I don't know if you've ever seen an eight-year-old Menodix kid with an axe and a sugar rush, but take my word for it, it's not something you want to experience. The only thing worse is if it's a fourteen-year-old Velbaysian instead.

"Duck and cover!" I yelled, looking for any kind of cover I could find in the cell. There wasn't much. A moment later the cell bars exploded, and Roger ran off, laughing uncontrollably. Sophia stepped through the new opening, and sat down next to Peppita.

"We'd better get going," she said. "I don't know how long Nel and Albel can keep them busy."

"I think they've got a lot more than that to worry about now," I pointed out, staring after Roger. "Anyway, we can't go yet. If Maria is really going to fire that weapon, we have to buy her time. And that means we have to go after the captain himself."

At this Sophia nodded her agreement. "Okay, then let's get going!"

There was a moment of silence, as everyone knew what was coming. It was Fayt who finally said it. "I'm sorry, Sophia, but you can't come."

"What? Why?" she said, apparently completely oblivious to the hurt arm that everyone could see.

I just shook my head. "Because there's no way you can fight in that condition," I told her bluntly. "Besides, you have to help Lieber take Peppita back to the Diplo. And round up everyone else while you're at it. We need everyone off this ship."

She still didn't like it, but she nodded again, solemnly. "Alright. Hurry and get back alive."

"Trust me," Fayt said dryly, "I plan to do as little dying as possible."

* * *

"Do you think she made it back yet?" I asked as we sprinted along another corridor in what I could only hope was the direction of the bridge. 

"I'm sure she hasn't gotten caught, at least," Fayt replied. "Now what about that weapon you were talking about?"

"Right, about that. You'll see for yourself, but when you see a flash of light, that's when we have to get back to the Diplo."

"And then what happens?"

"Didn't I just tell you you'd see for yourself?" I said with a shrug. "Well, we've never had to fire it before, so I don't know exactly what it does. All I know is, it's a weapon designed specifically for situations like this. But it can only be used at an extremely short range, so if they're able to move at all, we'll probably miss."

"So that's why we have to distract the captain."

"Right," I said, as we rounded another bend. We were getting close, I could feel it. Finally, an enormous door loomed ahead and to the right. "This is it," I said, slowing my pace. "It all comes down to this."

The door slid open by itself, which I couldn't help thinking was strange. After all, these were our enemies, and we were in the middle of escaping. I shrugged it off, though and stepped through. There, his back to us, sat the king of these insignificant vermin. Whoa, I'm starting to sound like Albel here. Well, at any rate, this was the ultimate enemy for us, and here he was, and, um... okay, I kinda lost my place there. Let's just say this was the final boss.

There was the sound of static, and a voice came over an intercom next to him. "Captain, we've got trouble. Half our squad has just been wiped out by a gay man, an injured girl, and a rabid raccoon."

Another voice. "Uh, Captain? Remember that nerve gas you gave us? Well, it doesn't work right on these guys. They're acting... well, they're acting kind of _drunk. _Oh, and they're killing us."

Then a third voice. "Captain, we just saw two escapees heading for the bridge..." here he cut off the intercom.

"So," said a deep and threatening voice, "you've come to confront Captain Fargone."

He stood slowly and turned to face us. His face was as scarred and ugly as I remembered, and his full height made even me look tiny by comparison. He was wearing a hooded cloak for some reason that I couldn't understand at all, and his dirty beard obscured his muscled form. He took a menacing step toward us and raised his right hand, in which appeared to be a pistol.

A pistol? No way. That thing was outdated even on Elicoor II. What was he going to do with it?

I got my answer soon, as he squeezed the trigger and, rather than a bullet, a small object that looked like a strawberry struck me in the chest. On examination, I realized two things.

First, I realized it was a bomb.

Second, I realized that it had embedded itself in my flesh.

"Uh, Fayt?" I said.

"Yeah, Cliff?"

"I think I'm in trouble."

The bomb didn't explode right away, and Fargone watched with a scowl. After a few moments, he declared it a "dud" and tossed aside the gun. Fayt and I looked at one another and grinned. That was beyond lucky. That was absolutely miraculous.

Now, though, Fargone had prepared another weapon. This one seemed to be more of the melee persuasion. It was a small wheel, the spokes of which were extended and each ended in a scythe blade. To call it a chakram would not have been accurate; to call it riduculous would have been completely justified. He wasted no time rushing with it, and managed to cut Fayt, but he wasn't quite fast enough and the wound was minor. Fayt tried to retaliate with a swing of his sword, but a spin of the wheel and it was torn from his hands and flung across the bridge.

While he was doing this, I took the opportunity to charge at him. My punch shattered his bones and left him a mess... or, it would have, but somehow at that precise moment I was thrown back by what can only be described as a miniature tornado. It was coming from his weapon, and I couldn't easily approach. So I did what I always do in those situations. "HAMMER OF MIGHT!" I yelled, leaping into the air and hurling a ball of energy at him. He stopped spinning that weapon, but seemed more or less indifferent about my attack.

His ominous laughter echoed throughout the ship. "You think that's enough to hurt me?" he demanded. "Me, Captain Fargone, feared throughout entire galaxies, done in by that pitiful assault?"

He seemed to be entirely immobilized by laughter.

"If that's the best you've got," he said at length, "you might as well just stop struggling."

"Oh, believe me," I said smugly, "that's not even close to the best we've got."

Even as I said this, a flash of light illuminated the bridge. Fayt was out of the room before it faded. I paused in the door, grabbed the bomb, and ripped it out of my chest. "You'll want this back," I yelled, lobbing it at him.

Turns out it wasn't a dud after all.

I ran, and I never looked back. I wasn't even looking where I was going, because I knew it wouldn't help me. I just focused on where I needed to be. Pirates were surging into the corridors in huge numbers now, and I was tossing them aside constantly. Out of the corner of my eye I actually saw a few of them fighting each other. Finally, when I was beginning to lose hope, I saw it. Just ahead was the door I needed desperately to find. I lunged for it as the second flash lit up the entire ship...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boy, how 'bout that Fargone, eh? I'll see you next time on the thrilling conclusion! And don't forget the thrilling epilogue! And the thrilling sidestory! Well, maybe they're not all that thrilling. But you should read them anyway. And review. Definitely review.

Also, I'd like to thank Sorceress Myst for the sugar rush idea. I wasn't thinking of her story when I first used it, and she used it decidedly differently, but I think that her giving Fayt a sugar rush did influence me a bit when I started using it myself, and it's become sort of a staple in my fics, I can't seem to write a Star Ocean fic without one or both of the kids getting a sugar rush. Yeah, I just wanted to say that.


	9. Mirage: The Breakup

Square-Enix owns Star Ocean. I'm just a two-bit hack who writes about it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Weapons system online, Captain."

Marietta and Steeg were working right alongside me, having arrived shortly after I did. Maria nodded and began instructing us. We had never attempted to use this weapon before, and only Maria really knew how it worked. "Deactivate shields and engines," she ordered.

I looked at her hesitantly. "Are you sure about this, Captain?" I asked.

"Of course. There's no other option," she replied simply. "We only need portside weapons. Deactivate starboard."

It was becoming obvious what she planned to do, and I only hoped it was the correct course of action. Of course, it was the only available course of action, but that didn't necessarily mean it was correct. I keyed in a few more commands, deactivating all unnecessary systems. Soon all available power was diverted to the portside weapons.

Next we began to cut off individual weapons, one by one, until only one remained. The Terminal Detonator, it was called. Before we could begin preparing to fire, though, a noise caught our attention. Footsteps on the stairs... a voice yelling to its comrades...

In seconds I had flattened the pirate. The few who had followed him up, also followed him down. Once they were taken care of, Maria gave her next order.

"Mirage."

"Yes, Captain?"

"You stand guard."

I had planned to finish the preparation, but even wounded I was the most capable fighter here. I nodded and stood next to the door, waiting for the next pirate to show up. Soon, the door slid open, and three figures charged inside. I was about to destroy them, when the first one held up his hand. "Wait," he said calmly. "We don't want to fight."

I thought for a moment. I knew that some of the pirates were our allies, for some reason, but I didn't know which ones. After a minute, I decided. "Alright, but you'll have to stay locked up in the sick bay," I informed him. "We'll decide how to deal with you when we get to the nearest planet."

Nodding gratefully, the three stepped into the sick bay, and even seemed to be smiling as I closed and locked the door. Happy about being locked up. Go figure.

It was precisely as I was returned to my post that about ten more pirates burst in. But they didn't seem interested in attacking me at all. They were more focused on fighting each other. Rather than interrupt them, I decided to watch. This turned out to be a better idea, as by the end all of them were unconscious. All that was left was a short haul to the sick bay with their comrades, and I was back to watching the door.

A few minutes passed, and nothing happened. Then, without warning, a shirtless man brandishing a sword ran straight onto the Diplo. A tense moment passed as he seemed to be getting his bearings and deciding whether to attack or not.

"Hello, Albel," I said simply. "Trying to be more like Adray?"

At this he made up his mind. I think he would have killed me, too, if he hadn't been restrained from behind. "Oh, I see Nel's here too," I added, mildly surprised to find that her appearance was slightly disheveled. "You two had a rough time getting back here, I see?"

"Er... yeah," Albel said, avoiding eye contact and relaxing a little. "Those pirates, they did something... I don't know..."

"It was some kind of gas," Nel confirmed. "I got this weird floating sensation, and... I'm not even sure what happened after that."

Gas? A nerve gas, maybe? Now things were looking bad. The others still hadn't returned, and I doubted they would be safe if the pirates used nerve gas on them. There was no time to think about it, though, because that was when the pirates began flooding in after them.

Nel rushed right into the middle of the group, and began striking with perfect accuracy, countering every attempt to attack her back. Albel just started hacking at whoever was closest; most of them tried to keep their distance, but it didn't work very well. I stood back a bit, letting the pirates come to me. It was absolute chaos. The pirates were fighting not only us, but each other as well. Finally, the fighting broke off. Few pirates entered, and the ones who did were mostly dispatched by the ones who were already here. I motioned for those to join their comrades in the sick bay, and they went along with it.

Now I watched for the sign that Maria had told us meant the weapon was approaching maximum charge. Just as the flash of light illuminated the area in front of us, a shriek pierced the air and in bolted a group of pirates, all apparently directing their attention to one spot. Shoving a few of them aside, I realized that in that one spot were Sophiia and Lieber, guarding two unconscious children. That tipped me off that all of these pirates were on the same side. We made short work of them, and then I led our newly-arrived friends up to the bridge. Albel and Nel could handle the incoming pirates. My leg was starting to hurt, anyway.

"What happened here?" I asked, looking at Peppita and Roger.

"Well," Sophia explained, "Peppita was unconscious when I got there, and I had to feed Roger chocolate to open the cell door."

This made perfect sense, and undoubtedly Sophia was on the verge of collapse after dealing with Roger on sugar, even if she didn't show it. "You just stay here and rest," I told her. "I need to be getting back to the others."

"But what about Fayt?"

"Fayt hasn't arrived yet, he should be here any minute."

Sure enough, seconds later the familiar voice came from below. "Albel! Watch where you're pointing that thing!"

"That's my cue," I said, returning to the docking area. Fayt had a terrified look on his face, but Albel simply shrugged. "Thought you were a pirate," he said as he put his sword away.

"You thought I was... you thought... HOW COULD YOU THINK I'M A PIRATE?" he yelled.

Albel shrugged again. "What does it matter? It's not like I actually stabbed you."

"But you were going to!"

"But I didn't."

"You... you..."

Finally, I decided to break up this intellectually stimulating conversation. "Enough. We're still one short."

For a moment Albel didn't seem to know what I was talking about. "Er... what are you talking about?" he asked. "Has the large oafish maggot failed to return?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's the one," I said, turning my attention to the door as a new wave of pirates streamed in. Of course, with four of us now we had no trouble at all removing all hostile parties.

Finally, after a prolonged fight that I could have done without, there was a second flash of light. Immediately after that, the Terminal Detonator fired.

When this happened, the area directly next to the Diplo exploded. In this case, that meant the pirate ship exploded as well. I hurried back to the bridge to see the majority of the enemy ship reduced to scrap metal. Engines, weapons systems, everything was simply destroyed.

Everything.

Stiffly, I walked back to the door. Staring at it, as if it could respond, I whispered...

"Cliff."

"Yeah?"

At the voice, I spun around in surprise. Cliff was lying on the ground, on a mass of pirate corpses.

"Let me tell ya, I didn't think I was gonna make it," he said. "I think I got burned pretty badly in that explosion."

I thought I might hug him, but I wouldn't be the same Mirage if I let myself be pulled into a big emotional reunion scene. Instead I just straightened up and said, "Welcome back."

Victorious, we all headed to the bridge. "Mirage, take us home," Maria said.

After a brief pause, I shook my head. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Maria."

"Why not?"

"Our engines," I explained. "We rerouted all the power to the Terminal Detonator, and then they were damaged in the explosion. I can't make them work on the limited amount of power we have left."

Maria sighed. "Well, I guess I should have seen this coming. Are we at least moving?"

"Yes. With the trajectory influence from the explosion we're drifting toward coordinates..."

"The coordinates aren't important."

"They're not?"

"What are we going to do about them?"

"You have a point."

With that we floated along in silence for some time, until Maria decided to speak up again.

"About those coordinates."

"Yes?"

"What are they?"

"Well, you won't believe this, but..."

Suddenly the ship began to shake unexpectedly. "We're here," I said, as we lurched forward. The ship began to pick up speed, dropping toward the planet below.

"Captain, we're breaking up in the atmosphere," Marietta warned.

"It doesn't matter," Maria reminded her, "there's nothing we can do about it."

Quckly we took shelter in various rooms. Our impact with the ground was not a gentle one. We were thrown against walls, before crashing painfully to the floor, but we did survive.

And as we stepped from the smoking wreck, Cliff blinked in disbelief.

"I don't believe it," he said.

We had landed back on Elicoor II, near the entrance to the Aquatic Garden, the last place most of us thought we'd ever see again.

"It seems fate has conspired to bring us back," Maria commented.

"Hey," said Fayt, "don't blame this on me!"

"No, I mean fate... destiny... cinniúint," Maria said, though this last one only seemed to confuse the issue further.

"Well, whatever you call it, the Diplo is beyond repair now," Cliff informed us. "And I don't think we'll be getting any rescue crews either, seeing how out of all the places we could have been stranded there's at least a ten-million-to-one chance against us ending up back here."

"I guess there's only one thing to do, then," Sophia added, surprisingly cheerful for someone who's just been informed she's stuck on an underdeveloped planet with no way off for the forseeable future.

"Build a new ship?" Fayt asked.

"Curl up into a ball?" Cliff contributed.

"Sacrifice all of you to Crossel?" Albel suggested.

Silence.

"What?"

"No, we'll just have to accept that we're going to be here for a while and make the best of it," Sophia said.

I wasn't so sure it would be that easy.

Then again, what ever was?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They say history repeats itself. So our heroes find themselves back on Elicoor II, once again, and why fight it? After all, it's not like they have anywhere else to be. Anyway, that's how it happened, all that's left is the epilogue and the sidestory, and of course the sequel. You will read those, right? Please read and review.

They say history repeats itself. So our heroes find themselves back on Elicoor II, once again, and why fight it? After all, it's not like they have anywhere else to be. Anyway, that's how it happened, all that's left is the epilogue and the sidestory, and of course the sequel. You will read those, right? Please read and review.

They say history repeats itself...


	10. Epilogue

Square-Enix owns Star Ocean. I'm just a two-bit hack who writes about it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a sigh I logged out of the Eternal Sphere, wondering if I would ever log in again.

I had been defeated, and in defeat I had accomplished my goal, much better than I had expected. One day, I knew, the Eternal Sphere would need its heroes again. Perhaps it was wrong of me, but I thought they should stay together, whether they liked it or not.

Right or wrong, it was done now. From now on I would simply watch, and wait.

I wondered about the variables I had introduced into the situation. I knew everything that had gone on aboard the ship, and so I knew that the pirates were close to a discovery. Would it make a difference? Probably not. Having information and acting on that information are two entirely different prospects, and nobody on Elicoor II had the ability to do anything about it.

I mean, in order to have that kind of technology way out there, you'd have to be the wayward daughter of a gambling tycoon, or something.

So I knew that everything was going according to plan. I hoped they could forgive me, if they ever found out, of course. There really wasn't a choice.

With one more glance at Elicoor II on the monitor, I went back to work. Luther had really done it. He deleted the entire Eternal Sphere. It was just fortunate that we kept backups. Restoring it entirely would take months of continuous work, but it would be done eventually. Unfortunately, he had destroyed the backup files for Earth. Recreating that from scratch would take even longer. It might not even be worth it. After all, with no records of the original, there was no way to make it what it was before.

Someone knocked at the door. "Come in," I called, turning. It opened and a young boy stepped inside. "Oh, hello, Flad," I said. "Thank you for letting me borrow your Eternal Sphere character. I'm afraid he was destroyed, though."

Flad shrugged and nonchalantly replied, "I have others. Did you finish whatever you needed him for?"

"Yes, he was ideal for the job."

"Then I'm glad I could help."

I finished a few more lines of code, then decided to call it a day. "Did you need something?" I asked, returning my attention to Flad.

"Well, if it's no trouble," he said, "I wanted to see what happened to Fayt and the gang."

With a small chuckle I moved over to a different monitor and flipped it on. "There's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

"Thanks, Blair," Flad said as we relaxed and watched the latest adventures in the Eternal Sphere...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You didn't really think anything in the Eternal Sphere was random, did you? After all you've seen, it can't be. I know there's room for improvement in this chapter. Maybe someday I'll explore that potential. For now I just wanted to give you this little epilogue.


	11. Adray Gaiden

Square-Enix owns Star Ocean. I'm just a two-bit hack who writes about it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something moved on the horizon. What was it? It was approaching, fast. I prepared to draw my sword, waiting for it to come close enough to identify.

"I will meet you with all the power in this old body!" I announced, removing my shirt for no real reason.

Then it jumped.

The next thing I said was "Yeargh!", or some approximation of that, as the squirrel hit me in the face. Flailing desperately, I found myself unable to remove it. Frantically I unsheathed my sword and swung at the squirrel. Unfortunately, my aim was impaired by my mental disabilities and the squirrel attacking me. Now I had a deep gash in my shoulder and an angry squirrel on my head. I dropped the sword and began trying a new tactic.

Concentrating as hard as I could, I dropped to my knees and began slamming my face against a convenient rock. This proved to be a half-baked plan, as at that instant the squirrel darted onto my back. Now I had a deep gash in my shoulder, a bloody face, and an extremely angry squirrel running amok on my body.

"Wait, please, stop..." I began, but it was too late, as the squirrel bit into a very tender area. As it continued its onslaught, I curled up into a ball...

"Father? Are you still here?"

Recognizing the voice of my only daughter, I immediately sprang to my feet, the squirrel now holding onto my arm. "Clair! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Didn't Magistrate Laselle send you on a mission?"

There was a long silence. "Yes, he did. Where am I?"

"You're still in Aquios, Father. You're in the castle garden."

"Right. The garden. I knew that." A pause. "Which way is the harbor?"

After a few moments, she rubbed her temples and pointed. "In that direction, I believe."

Nodding, I headed in the direction she indicated. "I'll be back soon! Maybe I'll find you a husband while I'm at it!"

And so I set sail. For the fate of Aquaria, I...

Before I could finish this bit of narration, we docked. I wasn't really sure why I had elected to travel by boat, except that I like boats. I like the mast, and the poop deck, and everything. Even though it wasn't very far, and shorter by land, this was another opportunity to be among the seamen. As I set foot on dry ground, I couldn't help a feeling of longing. But borders exist for a reason, and someone had to stop the illegal immigrants from Korpakinamiskachewan.

Yes, it's a terrible place, that Korpakinamiskachewan. I've witnessed the horrors firsthand, according to Laselle. People are routinely executed for relieving themselves in public, and fights and big musical numbers break out constantly. The big musical numbers sound alright, but the rest is the kind of thing we'd like to keep out of Aquaria, especially people relieving themselves in public because that's just nasty. So I could understand perfectly why I had to guard the border to this country I didn't remember ever existing, with a squirrel on my shoulder. Laselle told me I had been doing this for quite a long time, and of course he wouldn't lie about something this important. I assumed my post and guarded it diligently, watching for anyone who might try to cross the border illegally.

After I had been standing there for about five hours, I realized that I had not eaten in the past week. I meant to, it's just that other, more important things kept coming up, like this Korpakinamiskachewan business. I knew I should continue to stand guard, but nobody was coming, and there was no sign that anyone was going to come. So finally I decided to go find something to eat.

Fortunately not far away there was a fine-looking dining establishment, with a sign outside that read "McMcMc's". The sign was being held by what appeared to be a mime, though on closer examination I realized that it was a statue. The attention to detail was stunning, and I was only thankful that it was a mime, rather than a clown of some sort.

I stepped inside McMcMc's and all eyes turned to me. When I approached the counter, the boy standing behind it shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir," he stated calmly, "we have a policy."

"A policy? What kind of policy?"

"No shirt, no shoes, no service," he informed me, pointing to a sign. Ah, signs. These people seemed quite fond of them.

I furrowed my brow, thinking about this. "You want me to wear a shirt?" I asked.

"Yes, that's the idea."

"And shoes?"

"Yeah..."

"But... it's okay if I don't wear pants, right?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Pants, man. If I returned with a shirt, but no pants, could I purchase some food here?"

"Sir, you aren't wearing pants _now_."

I looked down and realized he was right. Rather I was wearing a skirt.

"Alright, but suppose I came in without this. Could I purchase some food?"

"I don't see why you would. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing, I just want to be sure I understand how the whole system works."

"Well, we've never had to deal with that situation before, and we don't anticipate ever having to."

Satisfied with this answer, I nodded. "You know, you'd make a wonderful husband for my daughter."

"I don't know your daughter."

"That's fine, you can meet her. I'll introduce you."

"Sir, I don't think I would be able to live comfortably as your son-in-law."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"I have a girlfriend already and she'd kill me."

"Ah, say no more."

There was a very long and awkward silence. That happens a lot.

"Well, do you know where I could get a shirt?"

"You mean you don't have a shirt?"

"Well, I'm not going all the way back home just to get a shirt."

"I don't know what your measurements are, sir. I can't tell you where to get one."

"Well, I..."

Before I could finish, there was a scream from outside. "Adray away!" I yelled, and dashed out.

In the street, a man and a woman were fighting over a purse. Springing into action, I grabbed the purse myself, attempting to wrest it from the grasp of the thief. The man, clad in black, was very obviously attending some gathering or other, when the woman suddenly decided to steal his purse. Thinking quickly, I raised two fingers and gouged her eyes, and the squirrel bit her for good measure. She yelped and let go, and the man reclaimed the purse. As he left, he accidentally struck me in the head, hard enough to make me fall to the ground.

"What are you doing?" the woman screamed in my ear. "He just got away with..."

"I'm sure you thought you'd get away with it, but you didn't expect to run into me."

"But I..."

"Will be dealt with swiftly by the local law enforcement, I'm certain," I said as I walked away, proud of my deed. "Wait a minute, I was doing something before... oh, right, the border!" I hurriedly returned to my post, expecting the Korpakinamiskachewanian miscreants to show themselves soon. And there I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

The sun was setting when a fellow happened by and asked what I was doing here.

"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm guarding the border."

"The... border?"

"Yes, that's right. The Korpakinamiskachewanian border."

The man looked troubled for a moment before he responded. "This isn't the Korpakinamiskachewanian border."

"It's not?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Then what is it?"

"Duggus Forest."

I let this sink in for a minute. "So then... where's Korpakinamiskachewan?"

"As far as I know," he said, stroking his chin, "no such country exists. It doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard of before."

He left, and I don't know how long I remained there, processing this. All I know is that when I figured it out, it was daytime.

"LASEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLE!!!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that's what Adray was doing the whole time. Makes sense, right? Well, see you in the sequel! Don't forget the reviews! Also, I know Aquios doesn't have a harbor, and there are some things you're not likely to find on Elicoor II. Things don't have to make sense with Adray-bashing.


End file.
